Weekend Round-Up

2017 / 01 / 16

This past weekend the OVA was truly in full swing with tournaments on both Saturday and Sunday along with a couple of our boys teams heading south of the border for more competition.

On Saturday the 16u girls divison was in full swing with 4 teams competing around the Province. At the Premier division we see the evidence that all the hard work and patience put in by coach John Nguyen with the BlackJacks is starting to reap rewards. For the coach the idea of playing in Premier was always the goal but now apparently the idea is to medal at that level and establish this team as a National Contender. The 'Jacks were in tough with their pool, but a landmark win in the pool over LVC Fire helped the girls get through to the final four with a solid win in the quarters. The final four was a replay of the pool in some respects with all three teams advancing that far along with the #1 seed Titans who took the bronze of the BlackJacks. A smell of the top will bring even more determination from both the coaches and the girls I'm sure.

Also at 16u but a little closer to home the Wildcards went to Oshawa to compete in the Championship D tournament hoping to advance to Select. While the day was overall a positive one for Coach Chico the girls failed to reach that plateau after a heart-breaking semi-final loss to the home town Attack Black 15u but finished with a third place standing to remain in Championship for the next event, the Bronze was bittersweet as they cruised past the Fusion 16u girls for the second time in the event, this time in straight sets, and the win.

Meanwhile in Pembroke both the Aces and Gamblers took to the court looking to establish even more Maverick dominance at the Trillium The gamblers won their first match against the Vikings Red in 2 sets and our 2nd match against the Vision VC in 3 sets to finish first in our pool. After a quick lunch break we played the Rebels and won that match in 2 sets to earn a spot in the semi finals against Peterborough. Coach Rose's girls won the first set by a large margin but struggled to pass a couple of hard servers and lost the second set by 2 points. The 3rd set was close all the way to the end where we ended up losing 16-14. Regrouping for the bronze is not always easy and beating a team twice in a day also a challenge but in the bronze hey met Vision VC again for the bronze medal match and the girls finished strong by beating them in 2 sets.

Also on Saturday was the 18u Girls division where the Broncos were off to Oakville and apparently Oakville in the morning is very much to the girls liking. Wins over LVC Fire and Aurora Storm who would finish 4th and 2nd respectively proved to be a highlight start for coach Mousseau. The problems then began to unfold. What on paper seemed like an easier quarter final due to the pool success was anything but. The Host Lakeside was anything but accomodating with a three set win over our girls. The Broncos were unable to rebound from that stinging loss and finished 7th with a loss to Phoenix and will be relegated to the Championship Tier next event.

At the 13u level the club wqs fortunate enough to host the event at CC Samuel Genest and these little raptors put on a show that finished with quite a tizzy. The full results are not up on the OVA site yet but I can tell you that when the dust settled it was the Sidewinders and the Rattlers fighting for the ultimate prize. I am not sure how many times these teams have met and what the previous record shows but Saturday it was the Sidewinders prevailing in a tough fought battle over their sister Rattlers in a battle that is setting off debate around the den.

Moving on to Sunday the 15u girls and 18u boys were both in events both near and far.

In Welland the Mustangs decided it was time to flex their collective muscle and while still holding to an full compliment of the roster engagd in each and every match they were held to only a Silver medal after lopsided win over Ottawa Fusion, then a three set thriller to Storm and a thrid set loss (14-16) in the final to Lakeside after winning the opening set by a landslide. Something tells me it is going to get serious in the next two events.

Meanwhile at 15u not only were 5 15u teams in action our 14u pre-Hp girls were also felxing their muscle. Here in Ottawa the 14u Raiders won their pool again with wins over the Vikings and Ottawa Fusion 15u while right beside them the Ambush were cruising to wins over Pegasus and Pumas. No word to me yet on the Scouts but when the results are posted we'll check back in. After that the information is fuzzy but what is clear to us all was that home cooking and sleeping in their beds were part of the recipe for an all Maverick Final with the Pre-HP Ambush taking the gold.The pioneers and Outlasws were up the valley in Pembroke and I have word on a 5th place finish forthe 14u Outlaws in what looks like a tough draw. The Pioneers are still MIA on the reporting aspect and results are also not up.

Moving up the food chain we find the Stampede and Trailblazers in Kingston playing in the championship level where both teams survived to play again in the next round. However rumour has it the TrailBlazers were in the final 4. Like to know more....so would I.

Last and I must say certainly not least...well in my eyes anyway. The 16u Longhorns and 17u Rangers travelled south of the border to compete in the Pace Bootlegger CAN-AM in Rochester.

The experience was a good wake-up call for the Rangers who after going 2-1 on day 1 with wins over COlumbus and Lakeside but lost a thriller to Academy of Maryland, the next morning after securing their spot in the round of 16 with a morning win over Cleveland; ran hard into a group of boys from Puerto Rico, and these young men can play. A slow start in the first lead to the Canadian company getting an earful and that seemd to make a difference as the second got hot but at 21-21 the dam burst with the Pumas Pouncing on the opportunites given them by their friendly Canadian counter-parts. That loss set the team up against the KW Predators and the end came swift. Now I am not one to exaggerate but a 9th place finish is nothing to brag about especially when two other Canadian teams also exited at that point.

The Longhorns had a great start with 5 consecutive wins over teams from Columbus, Albany and Lehigh Pennsylvania mixed in with one over Oakville Lakeside. However their journey turned with a loss to WarrenSix Pack from Pennsylvania and that loss put them straight up against MAC from Hamilton and the guys fell in a heartbreaking and thrilling match 26-28, 25-18,15-13. Which if was any other team sport would translate into a 3 point margin of victory but sadly not in Volleyball.